Drive-chain.



No. 893,779. PATENTED JULY21, 190s.

W. M. BUTLER & W. J. BBLGHER.

DRIVE CHAIN.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.15, 190a.

. UNITED STATES PATENTJOFFIOE; 1

WILLIAM BUTLER AND WARREN J. BELCHER, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS TO THE WHITNEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A COR- PORATION,

DRIVE-CHAIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented u1 21, 1908.

Application, filed. January 15,1908. Serial No. 411,007.

ford, in the county of'Hartford-and Stateo'f Connecticut, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Drive Chains, of which thefol owing-is a specification.

This invention relates to frictional drivechains, the Object of the invention being to provide a driving-chain of this-character embodying frictional contact surfaces inclined one to the other to bear wedge-like in a V.

shaped g'roove of-a driving-pulley, the frictional element of theiconstruction consisting of some suitable substance, 'as'leather or'the like, completely encircling the chain and being secured in separate segment-shaped pieces to the links of the chain-by means of fastening devices integral with said links, these pieces of frictional material providing, when the chain is running substantially in a straight line, .a continuous smooth upper or outer surface of said frictional material.-

In the drawings forming part of this appli cation,Figure '1 is a side elevation of a niimber of connected links of a drive-chain showing-the preferred embodiment of the in' vention., .Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on line 2-2, Fig. '1, the lane of'the section being through two of t e side links of the chain, the portion of the grooved guiding pulley being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a perspective view, on a somewhat enlarged scale, of a portion of a chain showing the construction and arrangement of the links and blocks, and showing also a portion of the frictional material encircling the same.

4 is a plan view of one of the pieces of frict-ional material, the scale of this view. bei

the same as Fig. 1. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 illustrate the method of applying the encircling strips of frictional material whereby they may be secured to the chain under such tension as is. necessary to hold them securely thereonf Y Referring now to these drawings, the chain is made u of alternate blocks a and sideplates or links I) the latter being riveted to the blocks in the usual manner, .butunlike' the usual construction the side plates b are extended beyond the lower or inner ed'geof the. blocks, as indicatedby 6 these extensions bein inclined one towards the other, as shownin igs. 2 clearly, the angle of Fig.

The lower edges of'these' 1 7 6O withteeth d adapted'to extend thr ugh the opposite-edges of a piece of flexible .ictional stantially, which "completely encircles the chain inclosing the'two oppositely located side .plates, as shown in Fig. 3, and portions of the contiguous ended the blocks wlocated between said side plates; To facilitate the ap lication of'this fleXible material 0 to the si e plates or links'has described,-the'teethd material e of ashape shown in Fig. 4, sub-" at the lower edge of the plates are first preferably bent'outwardly, as shownin "Figs. 3,

5, and 6, the opposite edges of the flexible" material e'being perforated to receive these teeth before the strip'is ap lied-to the chain.

The'various steps usual yfollowed in applying the frictional material are illustrated in s ccession in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 and in app ying the material in this manner it may be stretched more or less when the teeth 0? are bent toward each other from the, position shown in Figs. 5and6 to the-positions'shown 7 in Figs. 7 and 8. This process is facilitated if the encircling strips of frictional material are first softened in an well known manner.

When the teeth have been bent around to the position shown in Figs. 7 and 8, thepoints thereof may be, by any suitable tool, turned over, as shown in Fig. 8, to clench them against the surface of the flexible material, and these retaining teeth, located as they are on the under side of the chain,'never come in contact with any surface on the grooved driving pulley c. a

An important-feature'of this invention lies in the fact that by means of this construction the upper or outer surface of thq chain is left entirely smooth and only the surface of'the material 6 is exposed; this surface, therefore, constitutes one to which an idler pulley may be applied to take up any slack in the chain, and whereby said pulley will run quietly and without subjecting either itself or the surface of the chain to any wear. This is an im ortant feature inasmuch as frictional dr1ve chains in nearly all cases require the application .of an-idler ulley to maintain them in ef fec'tive frictiona l relation to the pulleys over which they run; and as chains of this character have heretofore been constructed, it has 'severe conditions of service, one or more been impossible to apply an idler pulley which would have an unbroken yielding surface to run on, as in chains of this character it has heretofore been the practice to secure the trips of frictional material by means of rivets extending through said material in the space between the side plates.

If desired, when a chain is to be subjected to teeth may be formed on the upper edge of the p ates b, as shown in the various figures of the drawing, for the purpose of preventing any slip of the chain-inclosing piece of frictional material 6; but these teeth or projec tions should be of such length'that they will x-notextend through the material but serve only as points for the engagementof the inner surface thereof to prevent the material from slipping.

A chain made as described and shown herein results in a construction which not only is strong and useful and neat in appearance, but it isone which may be most cheaply manufactured as the side plates band the fastening devices for the encircling pieces of frictional material may be all made on a punch-press at one operation and the labor of putting the parts of the chain together and fitting the strips of material thereon in the manner described is relatively small.

What We claim, is

1. A drive-chain consisting of blocks, and side-plates to pivotally unite said blocks, said side plates extending beyond the lower edge of the blocks, astrip of liable material to encircle each pair of si e plates, there being teeth on the'lower edges of the plates to extend through the meeting edges of said strip, the ends ofthe teeth being bent over to secure the strip in position.

2. A drive-chain consisting of blocks, and

side-plates to pivotally unite said blocks, said side plates extending beyond the lower edge of the blocks, and bein inclined one towards the other, a stri of p iable material to encircle each pair ot side plates, there being teeth on the lower edges of the plates to extend through the meeting edges of said strip, the ends of the teeth being bent over to secure the stri in position.

3. A drive-c iain consisting of blocks, and side-plates to pivotally unite said blocks, said circle each pair of side plates, there being 5 teeth on the upper and lower edges of the side plates to engage the strip, and secure it immovably to each pair of side plates.

WILLIAM M. BUTLER. WARREN J: BELCHER.

Witnesses C. S. WoonWARD, Ms. W. GREEN. 

